Christmas Wreath

I have started to really love wreaths. For some reason I didn't used to like them all that much but I do now! Here is a really Classic one I made.

Materials:
~ Pie box top
~ Skirt
~ Fake holly/ivy/cranberries
~ Mod podge
~ Hot glue

This came on top of a pie from Marie Callendar's. but you can use anything round.

Lovely black skirt from DI :)


I cut up the skirt into strips and mod-podged some of the shiny layer onto the pie box top. This way all the white was covered up.

Next I added some bows from the satin layer

And as the finishing touch, I hot-glued some holly/ivy and cranberries into place.

Total Cost:
~ Pie box top: $0.00
~ Skirt: $5.00
~ Fake holly/ivy/cranberries: $0.00 (left-over from another project)
~ Mod podge: $0.00
~ Hot glue: $0.00

Christmas Wreath: Total Cost ~ $5.00

Marshmallow Garland

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I saw a marshmallow garland online yesterday and loved it! I decided to add a few above my snowmen decorations.

Materials:
~ marshmallows
~ scissors
~ floss
~ needle

When I did my first string I just used regular sewing thread but the marshmallows slid all over the place. I tried it with floss and they stayed in place! I don't think they'd stay in place with gloss floss but the waxy floss keeps them from sliding around.

I just threaded the floss through the needle, cut the marshmallows so I'd have different sizes of "snowflakes" and pushed the needle/floss through.

(These pictures don't quite do this thing justice. It looks really cool though, I like it)

Total Cost:
~ marshmallows: $0.00 (already had old ones in my cupboard)
~ scissors: $0.00
~ floss: $0.00
~ needle: $0.00

Marshmallow Garland: Total Cost ~ $0.00

Monogram Pumpkin

To decorate my small pumpkin I got out my beads and my hot-glue gun. This one I won't be carving so it didn't matter how I decorated it.

Materials:
~ Pumpkin
~ Hot Glue Gun
~ Beads

I drew an "S" on the pumpkin with a pen and then hot-glued on my beads. Easy as pie! (by the way, why is that a saying? Pie isn't easy)



Here is my Halloween centerpiece. Now I have Halloween cheer in my kitchen :) (Or should I say Halloween fear? bwahaha!)


Total Cost:
~ Pumpkin: $2.00
~ Hot Glue Gun: $0.00
~ Beads: $0.00

Monogram Pumpkin: Total Cost ~ $2.00

Polka-Dot Pumpkin

Halloween and pumpkins

--they just go together--

Last year I just bought some small pumpkins to set on my table which was fine, but this year I wanted to do a little bit more. I bought 3 good-sized pumpkins thinking I would decorate one and we could carve the other two. But I decided I wanted to have my pumpkin and eat it too! :) So I came up with a way to decorate it while still leaving it carve-able

Materials:
~ Pumpkin
~ Pins from a pin cushion
~ Beads
~ Ribbon

This was so easy! I just stuck pins all over my pumpkin and slid a bead over the pin. I tied a ribbon around the stem and I was done!

When I'm ready to carve this baby all I have to do is take out all the pins!

Total Cost:
~ Pumpkin: $3.00
~ Pins from a pin cushion: $0.00
~ Beads: $0.00
~ Ribbon: $0.00

Polka-Dot Pumpkin: Total Cost ~ $3.00

Halloween Tree

Happy Halloween! I discovered Halloween Trees this year and love them! I think they're such a cool idea so I decided to make one.

Materials:
~ Branches
~ An old sparkling cider bottle (or wine bottle)
~ Halloween decorations
~ Dryer sheets
~ Hot glue
~ Spray paint

I went to Dollar Tree and bought some Halloween erasers and some plastic Halloween rings. These became my "ornaments"

I took some branches and tied them together with twisty-ties. When I got the shape I wanted I spray-painted it black and then did a light coat of glitter spray paint.

Don't worry about the twisty-ties showing up. They'll mostly be covered by the spray paint and whatever you can still see you can cover up with ornaments and "cobwebs"

I used my sparkling cider bottle for the stand and started hanging up my ornaments. For the erasers I took a needle and thread and created a little loop at the top.


To get the plastic rings to stay on the tree I cut off the round part that goes around your finger and just hot-glued them into place.

To add the final touch I took a used dryer sheet and tore it up to create cobwebs.

I also painted the sparkling cider bottle so that it wasn't too distracting from the tree.

Total Cost:
~ Branches: $0.00
~ An old sparkling cider bottle (or wine bottle): $0.00 (I used one from a picnic a few months ago)
~ Halloween decorations: $2.00
~ Dryer sheets: $0.00
~ Hot glue: $0.00
~ Spray paint: $0.00

Halloween Tree: Total Cost ~ $2.00

Potpourri in a Vase

I got some beautiful potpourri in a gift bag a couple years ago and love how it looks so I've saved it. I had it just in a pretty glass I have but decided to change it up a little.

Materials:

~ potpourri

~ candles

~ vase

~ toothpicks

~ SWIMMING NOODLE -- yep, that's right. A swimming noodle :)

I wanted to fill a small square vase I had with the potpourri and candles but it didn't fill it up very much. So to add some filler space I cut up a swimming noodle. I was worried that the pieces of the noodle would get moved around once the potpourri got poured in so I stuck the pieces together with toothpicks.

This way they held together real well.

I also stuck toothpicks through the candles where the wick used to be and then stuck them into the tops of the noodle pieces. I poured in the potpourri and I was done :)

Total Cost:

~ potpourri: $0.00

~ candles: $0.00

~ vase: $0.00

~ toothpicks: $0.00

~ swimming noodle: $0.00

Potpourri in a Vase: Total Cost ~ $0.00

Bad-Day Box

This is an idea i got from Pinterest. When your husband has a bad day at work (or you could do it for your kids too) he can come home and pick something from this box to help cheer him up.

Materials:

~ Old box

~ Something to decorate it

~ Candy

~ Cards

~ Coupons

~ Anything else you want to put inside

I put some candy, wrote him two cards, and made him coupons like "favorite dessert" "back massage" or "milkshake at Arby's". Do whatever your husband likes -- this is to help him cheer up!! You know what he'll like :)

I didn't want every surprise to be ruined the first time he opened it so I wrapped everything.

I wanted to decorate the box and so I actually cut up a gift bag and mod-podged it on. A gift-bag box :)

I wrote a little poem to stick on the front. It's cheesy but cute too :)

Here's the poem...

BAD-DAY BOX

When you’ve had a hard day and you need a rest

Just open this box, put it to the test.

The contents will help you get rid of the blues

There are many options, you just need to choose.

When you open it up and see what’s inside

A smile will burst, and it will be wide

Your day will be cheery, your day will be fun

Those feeling-down blues will be out on the run.

I love you a lot babe, you make my life sweet

I hope this can help keep those bad-day blues beat.

Your hard work is valued, your devotion is clear

In our eyes you’re a hero, in our hearts you’re dear.

So open this box and see what you find

It has gladness and fun to bring peace of mind.

When this box starts to empty just let your wife know

She’ll fill it back up, let the happiness flow.

Fill it up when it gets low and have an on-going way to help get rid of those bad-day blues.

Total Cost:

~ Old box: $0.00

~ Something to decorate it: $0.00

~ Candy: $2.00

~ Cards: $3.00

~ Coupons: $0.00

Total Cost: Bad-Day Box ~ $5.00

Apples in a Vase

I was in charge of decorating the tables for a dinner last night. The theme was apples so I bought some different colored apples and just stuck them in vases. I was going to add something else to it but I liked the crisp look of only the apples.

How much easier can you get? And it makes a great centerpiece for early Autumn. Use as many vases as you want.

Total Cost:

~ apples: $5.00

~ vases: $0.00

Total Cost: Apples in a Vase ~ $8.00

Closet Organization

We have a shelf in our closet that was getting more and more unorganized. It's so easy to just toss clothes up there and lose the piles that have been so nicely made before. Since the shelf is high it's a pain to remake those piles. Here is my solution :)

Materials:
~ closet shelf that needs reorganizing
~ cereal boxes
~ tape
~ scissors
~ nails/hammer

Before...


I cut the cereal boxes so it was a front/back and a side panel.


Tape the box against the shelf and back wall to create partitions around the shelf

Now it's nice and organized. Each group of clothing has its own section and it will stay organized better.

I also made little hat pegs out of nails so that our hats didn't take up shelf space anymore

Total Cost:
~ closet shelf that needs reorganizing: $0.00
~ cereal boxes: $0.00
~ tape: $0.00
~ scissors: $0.00
~ nails/hammer: $0.00

Total Cost: Closet Organization ~ $0.00

Peek-a-boo Slip

I got this fabulous idea from Maybe Matilda She made a lace slip, I decided to make a red one! I used the fabric from my shower curtain (see here). This fabric has been an awesome purchase! I've used it so much!

Materials:
~ old skirt
~ fabric

Maybe Matilda uses elastic and makes her own waistband. I didn't want to have to worry about that and decided that since I'd have to buy fabric and elastic anyway, I might as well buy an old skirt. I found this lovely piece at DI (you could just use an old one from your closet though!) and just cut off the top layer and then chopped it off to the length I wanted.

(make sure you get a skirt that has a built-in slip)

Pretty isn't it? :)

Then I cut two strips of red fabric so that the red would hang down below my skirts. I wanted it to come just below my knee so I cut the blue skirt to right above my knee-cap and then cut about 5 inches of red.

I sewed two of the edges together, pinned it onto my blue slip and sewed it on.


Don't worry about the raw edge here, nobody will see it! I didn't worry about the raw edge on the bottom either but you can turn that up if you want to

By the way...meet my new best friend. You've heard of fabric pens right? Don't buy one! Just use a white crayon!!

After sewing it onto the slip sew up the other two edges. You're done!

Goes great with my new necklace too!

Total Cost:
~ old skirt: $5.00
~ fabric: $0.00

Peek-a-boo Slip: Total Cost ~ $5.00

Bead and Ribbon Necklace

I was getting stir-crazy yesterday and knew that I needed to do something to get my mind off it. This is one reason why I love crafting! Here's what I did for my therapy :)

Materials:
~ beads
~ ribbon
~ fabric
~ needle/thread

Remember the beads I had in my bathroom before the vases all crashed and fell? (read story here).

Well I took the beads and made a necklace out of them! (I still have tons of beads left though! So I'm sure you'll see them in another future project!)

I was inspired by a lot of necklaces on Pinterest that have been using ribbon. I just threaded ribbon through my beads doing 4 red, a knot, 1 black, a knot over and over. I did triple or quadruple knots so they would kind of stand out and really add space between the black and red beads.

I made one strand with 3 red groups and one strand with 4 red groups. I then tied those two groups together and then tied them onto another piece of ribbon so I could easily put the whole thing around my neck.

I wanted to add just a little more shazaam so I made a flower to add onto one side. Here is the picture tutorial (off Pinterest - BEST WEBSITE EVER!) that I used. I did six petals instead of four. I used leftover fabric from my shower curtain (see project here)

I also added a bead in the center of my flower to tie it into the necklace more. I wanted to place the flower right on top of the knot where I had tied all the strands together.

Thread the bead through one side of the ribbon

Bring a piece of ribbon from the other side of the knot and thread that through as well, keeping your flower in the middle

Pull each ribbon strand through the bead

Tie ribbon strands in a knot, cut off extra

Voila! DONE :)






Total Cost:
~ beads: $0.00
~ ribbon: $0.00
~ fabric: $0.00
~ needle/thread: $0.00

Bead and Ribbon Necklace: Total Cost ~ $0.00